


King of Fighters Destiny - The Interludes

by RobertCop3



Category: King of Fighters
Genre: Drama, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-10 14:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13503921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobertCop3/pseuds/RobertCop3
Summary: Series of character-oriented "behind the scenes" one-shots inspired by the new web-based series "King of Fighters: Destiny." R and R





	1. Episode 22 1/2

**Author's Note:**

> Let me start by posting a SPOILER WARNING: Recently, I had the pleasure of binge-watching the web-based anime series “King of Fighters: Destiny.” Obviously, I am about to spoil the shit out of it, so if you don't want to have it spoiled, stop reading and go watch it first. If you're interested, it can be found all over YouTube.
> 
> For those of you still with us, I have some nits and criticisms with the series, but overall I thought it was very good. One of my bigger criticisms is that while the fight scenes were very well edited, I thought there were too many of them, and not enough scenes that really let us get to know the characters. So I've decided to write a series of character-oriented vignettes inspired by the web series, things that might have been going on behind the scenes and parallel to the actions we saw on the screen. These are in no particular order, since I'm writing them as I think of them. This first one takes place in the middle of Episode 22, while Terry and Kyo are off fighting Rugal.
> 
> And I probably don't have to tell you this, but this project is completely unrelated to my other Fatal Fury/KoF fics.
> 
> All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the web series.

 

* * *

_Episode 22 ½ – Rugal Bernstein's cruise ship._

 

“Welcome back, Mai.”

The buxom ninja girl winced slightly as a bright light stabbed her retinas. Eventually, the light became more bearable, and the dark blobs scattered across her vision coalesced into the face of a familiar blond man staring down at her. Mai Shiranui turned her head slightly to the left and right, saw that Andy Bogard was kneeling alongside her, cradling her in his lap. Andy smiled as he looked down at her, tenderly brushed her reddish-brown bangs away from her face with his fingertips, his touch feathery-light. It was the first time in weeks she had seen him smile at her. _Pity my head hurts so much, otherwise I could appreciate this moment more._

Mai let out a soft groan, wondering where she was, why she was on a cold steel floor with Andy, and why her head was pounding. She'd only had one glass of wine, and she'd barely touched it. This brought her thoughts briefly back to the party, her annoyance at being unable to find Andy right before her memory became a haze.

“It's about time you got here,” Mai said weakly to him with a smirk. “You missed the party, slowpoke. Where the hell did you run off to, anyway?”

“Oh, just some business my team and I had to take care of at Geese Tower,” Andy said, suddenly shifting his blue-eyed gaze away from Mai to the floor.

“And that's all you have to say?” Mai asked him, her voice growing stronger now. “Typical Andy: You never tell me anything.”

Andy squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them again and looked back at Mai, his fingertips moving from her forehead to her cheek. “Terry and I settled the score,” he told her. “We avenged our father. Geese is dead.”

Mai smiled up at him, the first time in weeks she'd actually felt like giving him a smile. “I'm glad, Andy. Maybe now that that's behind you, this means you'll finally take me on a real date when we get back to Japan. Maybe we can even start planning a wedding.”

At the mention of that, Andy's hand moved away from her face, and his pale cheeks started to redden. “Um... uh...” He muttered as he became his usual flustered self again, his words once more failing him, as they always did whenever Mai brought up the idea of marriage.

“Hey, beautiful!” Shouted a familiar voice. “If he's too stuck-up to take you on a date, please allow me!” Mai sat up slightly, and saw a lean man with a large, meticulously groomed spiky blond hairdo making his way over to them.

“Butt out, creep!” Mai huffed. She was not in the mood for flirting at the moment. “We're having a private chat here! And anyway, Andy's still cuter than you!”

Benimaru Nikaido winced, as if he had been truly stung by her words, then slipped his hands in his pockets and made his way back to his heavyset teammate, who leaned against the wall and watched the shorter man with a smirk of amusement. Goro Daimon's arms were folded over his his barrel chest, and he gave a small snicker as Benimaru shot him an annoyed look.

After he was gone, Mai turned back to Andy and continued: “Andy, what happened here? I remember being up in the ballroom, looking for you, and then I smelled something funny. I think Ryo-san mentioned something about gas, and then everything went black. I swear I was having the strangest dream while I was out. It was like I was outside of my body, watching myself while someone else was inside it, controlling it. And I wanted to get back into my body, but whatever was controlling it wouldn't let me, so all I could do was watch. I saw myself fighting you. And I... Andy, it... wasn't a dream, was it? Did I do something bad?”

Andy smiled and shook his head, his earlier nerves momentarily forgotten. “Don't worry about it, Mai. What's done is done. You were having a nightmare, but you're awake now. That's all that matters.”

Mai's brow furrowed, as she sensed her self-proclaimed “fiance” was not telling her the whole story. So Andy went on to explain to Mai what Heidern had told him, Terry and Joe about Rugal Bernstein, the Orochi, and the Black Crystals, still leaving out the part about Mai attacking him while she was under the control of the Crystals. Fortunately, what he did tell her was enough to distract the busty kunoichi.

Mai sat up a little more and surveyed the room that they were in. It seemed to be a place where four corridors intersected. The walls and floor were drab white and featureless, while the ceiling overhead was lined with fluorescent lights which bathed the room in a sterile glow. In addition to Benimaru and Goro, Mai could see the still unconscious forms of her teammates, Yuri Sakazaki and King, being watched over by a wounded Joe Higashi. She also saw two members of the Kyokugenryu Team, which she and her teammates had defeated in the first round of the tournament, still out cold but propped up against one another. Whatever these Black Crystals were, they had done quite a number on the party guests.

“Can you stand?” Mai heard Andy ask her, his hand resting on the small of her back to help give her some support.

If anything, Mai was already getting restless. She wondered how Andy's brother, Terry Bogard, and the third member of the Hero Team, Kyo Kusanagi, were doing against Rugal, and if they needed help. Not to mention a small part of her was still annoyed with how Andy had acted before the tournament, trying to forbid her from entering. But the looks Andy had given her after she'd regained consciousness showed a deep, caring concern for her, something she hadn't seen from him in a long time. For now, she wanted to enjoy that just a little longer.

“I think I just need a few more minutes,” the ninja girl said as she leaned back against his arm, and rested her head on his shoulder. Andy looked uncomfortable, but took a deep breath and managed to stand his ground.

* * *

The first thing Yuri Sakazaki felt was a chill overwhelming her body. Her eyes slowly came open, and after adjusting to the light, she noticed the source: she was lying on her side on a sterile-looking floor, her cheek pressed against the cold, polished metal. She groaned and sat up, trying to remember how she got here. She looked around, and not far away she saw her teammate Mai reclining in Andy's arms, looking more relaxed than Yuri had seen her looking in the last few days. She decided to leave them alone, and quickly scanned the room for someone else to talk to.

The next person she noticed after Andy and Mai was a tall, darkly-tanned fighter with spiky brown hair leaning heavily against the wall, looking like he was keeping a watch over her and King. Yuri recognized him as the third member of Terry and Andy's Fatal Fury Team. _Joe Higashi, I think Mai said his name was._

“Have a nice nap?” The Muay Thai kickboxer asked her with a smirk.

“What do you think?” Yuri grumbled as she found her feet. “What happened?”

“You and a few of the other fighters went crazy after the sponsor of this tournament used something called Black Crystals on you,” Joe explained. “Fortunately, Kyo found them and turned them off. Which is lucky for you.”

“Why is that?” Yuri asked.

“You and your teammates were attacking me and mine while you were possessed by the Crystals,” Joe went on. “I was holding back on purpose, because I don't like hitting ladies outside of the ring. I was just starting to reconsider when Kyo destroyed the Crystals' power source. So you're welcome.”

“Yeah,” Yuri muttered sarcastically, and rolled her eyes. “I _totally_ wouldn't have stood a chance against you if you weren't holding back. Sorry if we attacked you, though.”

Joe gave a small shrug, though even this small movement nearly made him wince. “Don't worry about it. So far, this night has been more interesting than my usual nights.”

Yuri decided to ignore him, then, and got down on one knee next to King. “King-san?” She asked her friend softly, nudging King's shoulder with her fingertips.

After a few seconds, the blond woman began to stir slowly with a small groan. “What's going on?” She asked Yuri as she moved gingerly into a sitting position. “Where's the party?”

As Joe and Yuri brought King up to speed, the group was joined by the Psycho Soldiers team. Athena Asamiya made her way down the corridor towards them, the palms of her hands pressed together, her brow furrowed in concentration. On either side of her she was levitating her unconscious teammates, Sie Kensou and Chin Gentsai. When she reached the other fighters, she lowered them slowly to the ground.

“Is everyone all right?” The violet-haired girl asked as she swept her gaze over everyone, taking stock of who was awake and who wasn't.

“For the most part,” said Benimaru. “Kyo and Terry went up to the bridge to deal with Rugal. The rest of us are babysitting the wounded.”

“Hmmm,” Athena said, and her brow furrowed again. “I'll see if I can find out what's going on up there.” She folded her hands and stood there with her head bowed as a soft, pinkish-purple light began to surround her.

Yuri made sure that King was all right, and then got back to her feet and made her way over to her brother, Ryo, and his friend Robert Garcia, who were still out cold and being watched by Beni and Goro. She nudged each of them with the toe of her sneaker. “Oi! Time to get up, lazybones!” She snapped at them.

A few minutes later, both men slowly began to stir and re-enter the land of the living. “Geez, sis,” Ryo Sakazaki grumbled as he ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. “You couldn't give us a few more minutes?”

“You're just lucky dad's not here,” Yuri told them. “You both know how he likes to deal with people who oversleep.”

Both her brother and Robert Garcia nodded, remembering all the times during their training that Takuma had dumped a bucket of ice water on them if they slept even a millisecond past their alarm. Robert cleared the sleep from his throat, and then said to the petite brunette: “Yuri, I think there might be something seriously wrong with this tournament.”

“Yeah, we've all noticed,” Yuri said with a small chortle. Then, she turned to her brother. “Look, nii-san... what I said earlier...”

Ryo rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet and put a hand on her shoulder. “Don't worry about it, sis.”

“No, I meant what I said about dad,” Yuri went on. “He _is_ stubborn. You both are. I just... wasn't trying to speak ill of him when I said it.”

Ryo gave her a smirk. “We're all stubborn. It runs in the family. Just don't forget that I love you, even when you're too stubborn to do as you're told.”

“Well, I love you,” said Yuri. “Even when you're an over-protective hothead who's too thick to see that his little sister can take care of herself.” The two siblings laughed, and then hugged each other.

They were interrupted a few moments later by a cry from Athena. The aura surrounding her wavered and then faded as she sank to her knees, her violet eyes wide with terror.

“Athena-san!” Yuri shouted, rushing to the pop star's side. “Are you okay?”

“Darkness,” whispered Athena, taking several deep breaths to calm the shaking in her voice. “I sensed an overwhelming aura of darkness from the bridge, blotting out everyone else's energies. This power of Rugal's... is stronger than I imagined. The powers of Kyo-san and Terry might not be enough to stop him.”

Grim expressions marred the faces of everyone in the corridor who was still awake. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud bang which came from the door at the far end of the room. Everyone turned and saw about two dozen men and women swarm through the doorway, dressed in black and gray combat fatigues, black berets, and armed with assault rifles.

The fighters still on their feet started to assume stances, while those who were not tried their best to get up. But instead of attacking, most of the armed soldiers took up defensive positions along the corridor, while six of them strode towards the little group in a triangular formation with their weapons lowered, their heavy boots making loud footfalls against the floor.

When they got near, the soldier who was taking point and appeared to be in command clapped his boot heels together, and gave them a brisk salute. “We're with Interpol,” he said crisply. “Commander Heidern sent us to escort the wounded off the ship to safety. We have transportation waiting outside, if you'll come with us.”

Yuri sprang back to her feet, stared defiantly at the men. “The hell I will. I'm not wounded, and I don't need to be kept safe!” She then swept her gaze around at the other fighters: “You all heard Athena-san just now! Kyo and Terry need our help.”

“Oh, no you don't, imouto-chan,” Ryo said as he started towards her. “We've had more than we bargained for from this tournament already. If anything else happens to you, dad is gonna disown me! I'm surprised he hasn't already.”

“Zip it, nii-san!” Yuri snapped at him. “Your team lost to mine, remember? That means I don't have to listen to you.”

Ryo opened his mouth to protest some more, but Robert stepped between him and his sister, and started to push the blond man backwards. Ryo shut his mouth, the words dying in his throat as he shot a venomous glare at Robert.

The platoon leader looked confused now, removing his beret to scratch at his head. “Well, miss, the commander gave us orders...”

“Right,” Yuri said with a curt nod. “To get the wounded off the ship. Not all of us are wounded. Some of us can still fight.”

“She's right,” said Mai, who was now back on her feet. She reached down the front of her gi and pulled out one of her signature fans. “We'll need to decide who wants to go with these men, and who's gonna stay and fight. I'm with Yuri-chan. Whoever this Rugal creep is, we'll make him pay for trying to turn the Queens Team into his puppets!” She went over to stand by her teammate, and then glanced over at the third member. “King-san, are you coming?”

King, who was still sitting down, rose awkwardly to her feet, and then gritted her teeth and winced. She pulled up the cuff of her lavender trousers, saw that her ankle was swollen to twice its normal size. “Sorry, girls,” she said. “But I can't fight on this ankle. Hit him once for me, will you?”

Yuri and Mai flashed her a thumbs-up. King returned it, and then started limping towards the door, leaning against Joe for support. “I've taken too many beatings today already,” Joe said over his shoulder. “Sorry, but I've got nothing left.”

“I'll go with Yuri-san and Mai-san,” Athena said, as she rose back to her feet. “I shall do what I can against this darkness.” She then said to the platoon leader: “We left Kim Kaphwan's team knocked out in one of the holds. Will you take care of them, please?”

The man realized he wouldn't win this argument, and didn't feel like injuring his own men trying to force those who wouldn't go quietly. So he nodded, turned to the five men behind him, raised his left hand, and flashed several rapid signals at them with his fingers. Without saying a word, three of the soldiers nodded, then turned and raced back up the hallway.

“I'm going, too!” Benimaru said, strolling over to stand with the three women. “Kyo's gonna need my superior brains and brawn to get him out of this. As usual.” He turned to Goro. “How about it, big guy? Wanna join the party?”

Goro Daimon shook his head. “This is what the Kusanagi clan were destined for. The true power of the Orochi is far beyond my own strength.” He walked over to the still-prone forms of Kensou and Chin, slung one of them over each of his massive shoulders. “I will help take care of the wounded.”

“If you're going, Mai,” Andy said, “I am too.” He took a few steps towards the group, and then doubled over slightly, one hand going to his chest. Mai rushed to him, grabbed the hem of his sleeveless white tunic and dark blue undershirt, and pulled them up. She winced in sympathy when she saw the large bruise covering most of Andy's torso, so dark purple it was almost black.

“Andy, you can't come with us like that!” Mai said as she pulled his shirt back down. “You've probably got broken ribs. You'd only slow us down.” Andy tried to take another step forward, but Mai planted her feet against the floor, put both hands on his shoulders. “Do you _have_ a death wish, you big dummy?” She snapped at him.

“But Mai,” Andy protested. “I can't lose... I mean that, I... don't, um... want anything to happen to... Terry.”

Mai could tell what Andy had really meant to say, and her expression softened a little. “Don't worry, Andy,” she said. “I'll make sure nothing happens to Terry. None of us are allowed to get killed, you know. If we die, then we won't be able to enter the next tournament. And my team still needs to beat your team, so that I can show you the error of your ways.” She gave him a quick peck on the forehead, and then went back to stand next to Yuri.

Yuri fixed Ryo with a withering glare. “Your move, nii-san.”

Ryo looked like he had several things he wanted to say, but in the end he knew that if he went, he'd be too distracted with looking after Yuri to be of any use in the fight. “Good luck, sis,” he said, then turned and started to follow one of the soldiers down the hallway. “Take care,” Robert Garcia added, and then hurried after his friend.

“Okay!” Yuri shouted. “We are now the Rescue Team! Show us where to go, Athena-san!”

“Right.” Athena turned and started towards the opposite end of the corridor, with Yuri, Mai and Benimaru following. Mai had only taken a few steps when the bouncy ninja girl heard Andy call her name. She turned and looked at him impatiently.

Andy gave a her a sheepish look, and then simply said: “Um... good luck.”

“You owe me that date when I get back,” Mai answered, then blew him a kiss, turned and ran to catch up with Athena and the others. Andy watched her for another minute, and then allowed Heidern's men to lead him outside.

 

 


	2. Episode One and a Half

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I got my second idea for a vignette. This one is centered around Team Ikari, but in particular Heidern and Leona. One of the criticisms I had with “KoF: Destiny” was that Leona was missing from this season. SNK is currently working on a second season, and since the series as a whole is an adaptation of the Orochi saga, I'm hoping that means Leona will appear in Season Two (especially since the end of Season One teased us with Iori). So I came up with this idea as a possible explanation for why Leona was absent. It takes place either during or shortly after Episode 1.
> 
> All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the web series.

_Episode 1 ½ – Somewhere in the jungles of Brazil..._

 

Commander Heidern sat grim-faced behind his desk, his eye fixed on the well-built man with long brown hair standing at attention on the other side. Behind the commander was a bank of monitors showing news reports and satellite feeds, their glare providing the only light in the office. The rest of the room was Spartan in its design and decoration. Unlike most officers, who might bedeck their walls with photographs, or plaques and medals showing the accomplishments of their careers, Heidern's walls were left blank on purpose.

“There were no survivors?” Heidern asked his subordinate, raising a gloved hand to indicate one of the satellite monitors behind him, which showed several military trucks stopped dead on a mountain road. Surrounding them were the bodies of men who had been assigned to the convoy, all of them wiped out by whoever had attacked. The convoy had been ransacked less than twenty-four hours prior.

Ralf Jones shook his head. “None, sir. And whoever it was made off with the entire cargo.”

“ _Whoever it was_ ,” Heidern repeated, trying his best to keep the irony from his voice. “I think we both know exactly who's responsible.”

“Sir,” Ralf said with a nod. “The question is: what does he plan to do with it?”

“I have some ideas,” Heidern answered, his face grim. He picked up a remote from the surface of his desk, aimed it at one of the monitors behind them, and pressed a button. The image on the monitor changed to something that looked like a blueprint. The object it was centered around appeared to be an ordinary generator, except for the black dragons welded onto it that made it look like a cross between modern technology and a medieval torture device.

“Some of our sources found out that this device was recently acquired on the black market by the Howard Commission in South Town,” Heidern said to Ralf. “I've only seen one other person use tech like this, and I remember what he used it for.”

Ralf had seen this look on his commander's face before, and of course, he couldn't help but notice the way Heidern lightly brushed his fingertips over the patch that covered his right eye. Against his better judgment, Ralf asked his superior: “Rugal Bernstein?”

Heidern nodded once. “People like us can't believe in coincidences,” he said. “Which is why I also don't think that it's just random circumstance that the morning after that convoy was robbed of its Black Crystals, this showed up at our doorstep.” He picked up an envelope off the desk, and held it out to Ralf, who took it and looked it over warily.

The envelope was thick and glossy, like the type an invitation would come in, and had been sealed with red wax. The seal was a very simple one, an indentation of the letter R.

“Impressive that it found its way here, since we don't have a mailbox and no one outside of our unit is supposed to know this base exists,” Heidern told him. “Feel free to take the card out and read it. It's safe, we didn't detect any traps on it. ”

Heidern had slit open the top of the envelope in order to leave the wax seal intact, so Ralf reached in and pulled out the card inside, which had the following message in ornate script:

 

_You are cordially invited to participate in the King of Fighters tournament_

_We expect this year to be much more exciting than the previous years, as the rules have changed._

_Combatants are now invited to form teams of three people, which should make the competition even deadlier than ever, and therefore much more exciting!_

_The tournament is scheduled to take place in South Town, USA, starting on August 1 st. Any team wishing to participate must sign up in person at Geese Tower before the end of the day on July 31st. We hope to see you there._

_May the best team win!_

 

 

Ralf said nothing. He simply slipped the card back in the envelope and dropped it back on Heidern's desk. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next, but chose to wait for his commander to tell him.

“You, me, and Clark will be entering,” Heidern told him, confirming Ralf's suspicions. “Of course, that's just a cover. We'll be leaving for South Town tomorrow, so we'll have plenty of time to set up an ops base and gather some intel before the tournament starts. Our true purpose will be to find out what Geese and Rugal are up to, and put a stop to it.”

Ralf nodded in understanding, but Heidern had seen that look on his subordinate's face before. After a moment, Ralf said: “Permission to speak freely?”

“Depends what you want to speak about,” Heidern answered.

“With all due respect, sir, I think you know.”

The commander gave a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair. “Permission granted,” he spoke in a weary voice.

“Thank you, sir,” Ralf said with a nod, then he went on: “I just don't see why you're still not letting her into the tournament. You always taught us that personal feelings can never come before what's best for the mission, and I feel that what's best is to let her enter in place of either myself or Clark. You keep saying she isn't ready, but she's definitely not a child anymore. You've seen the progress reports for her training. No one in the base has beaten her in practice combat in over a year. Hell, I stopped pulling my punches a long time ago, and she still wipes the floor with me every time we spar. If she's not ready now, when is she going to be?”

Heidern's fingertips once again went to the patch over his right eye. He was silent for a long time. Then he answered: “I'll consider what you've told me. In the meantime, though, your orders still stand. We depart for South Town tomorrow at oh-seven-hundred. You and Clark be ready. Dismissed!”

“Yes, sir!” Ralf clapped his heels together and saluted. Heidern rose from his chair and returned the salute, after which Ralf left his office. Heidern did not sit back down. Instead, he moved over to the only decoration on his wall: a picture of a young girl with long, blue hair tied back in a ponytail, standing rigid in her pressed dress uniform, her expression perfectly neutral.

That picture had been taken a few years ago. Leona was now a grown woman, and yet, when he looked at her, Heidern could sometimes still see the little girl he'd found wandering in the jungle all those years ago, alone, shivering, and half-naked, with most of her clothing burned off.

Heidern had taken her in and raised her like she was his own blood, but there were still several things that gnawed at his mind, even now. For one, when he'd found her, her hair had been a light shade of purple, and though she didn't appear to be using any dye, the red in it mysteriously faded away to a darker shade of blue over the next few days. Also, whatever had burned her clothes had somehow left her skin and hair intact and un-scarred. Not to mention that she had no memory of her past, and years of psychotherapy had done nothing to jog those missing memories.

Heidern was grateful, however, that the therapy had helped her nightmares. Those first few weeks, she had woken up screaming several times, babbling about a sky tinted with red, seeing her hands caked in blood, and the bodies of dead or dying people flying through the air all around her like autumn leaves in a cold, stiff wind. For years, the psychotherapy treatments had repressed those nightmares, but lately... the reports Heidern received from the guards on graveyard shift said that Leona was not sleeping as much as she had used to, and would be up long before sunrise to practice in the gym, or go jogging through the forest outside.

_If she's not ready now, when is she going to be?_ Ralf's words echoed in his mind. “Soon,” he whispered to himself. “But not for this mission. Not where Rugal is involved.” He turned away from the picture and left his office, locking the door behind him.

* * *

In the spacious gymnasium of the base, a tall, well-muscled man with short blond hair dressed in black cargo pants, a skintight black shirt, and sunglasses leaned against one of the padded walls with a stopwatch in hand. “Whenever you're ready,” Clark Still called to the girl with the blue-haired ponytail, who stood balanced on the far end of a raised wooden beam that ran most of the room's length.

Leona Heidern took in a deep, calming breath, and cracked her knuckles, the noise still loud enough to be satisfying, even through the thick black leather of her custom-made gloves. The olive-green sports bra she wore showed off her fighters build, the muscles in her arms and midriff toned through years of training. Despite the fact that the room was a little chilly, and the only other clothing she wore in addition to her bra were a pair of brown combat boots and black sweatpants, Leona still felt a few beads of sweat breaking out on the small of her back.

_This can't be jitters,_ she thought to herself. _I've run this course so many times I could do it blindfolded, if I could just talk dad into letting me try it._

Commander Heidern... that was likely the source of her anxiety. Lately, she got the sense that her adoptive father was keeping something from her regarding the upcoming King of Fighters tournament. She knew about the mysterious invitation that had showed up at their door, if she knew Ralf half as well as she thought, he'd already mentioned to Heidern that Leona should go to the tournament in his or Clark's place. But the commander was hesitant, and whatever was causing it, it seemed like much more than paternal concern.

_The commander should be immune to such things, anyway._ On the first day of her training, Heidern had made it clear to her that their relationship inside of the unit was the opposite of their relationship outside. Outside, they were father and daughter, but inside, he was team commander, and she his subordinate. She'd always abided by this, and Heidern knew from her progress reports that Leona could take care of herself in a fight, could follow orders to the letter, without any hesitation. Yet, something still made him hold her back.

_Don't think about that now. Now, there is only you and the course._ Leona exhaled again, expelling all worry and concern from her body along with the breath. “Begin!” She snapped at Clark. At the same time he pressed the green button on top of the watch, Leona had started forward across the beam in a brisk jog, her balance precise and perfect, every sense razor-fine.

The first attack came suddenly, from the left. The gym mat on the wall seemed to detach and fly towards her. Leona did a back flip to avoid it, feeling the rush of air as the mat soared past her, and landed gracefully back on the beam, balancing on one foot. A few moments before she had landed, a pair of metallic tentacles had started to rise from the ground on either side of her, their barbed tips charged with electricity. The tentacle on the left lashed out at her, and Leona, still balanced on one foot, pivoted her body to avoid it. After the charged part of the tentacle had lunged past her, Leona grabbed its midsection, and thrust it towards the other tentacle, which was also lunging towards her. Their charged tips contacted one another, canceling each other out, and both appendages dropped limply to the floor.

Leona did not see them fall, as she was already continuing to press forward across the beam. She'd only gone a few paces when the next trap seemed to come from nowhere: a heavy wooden beam suspended by cables dropped from the ceiling and swung towards her, threatening to strike her right in the stomach. Leona went into a crouch, expertly positioning her right foot forward, while her left remained tucked underneath her, and used her momentum to slide, feeling the crossbar pass over her head.

Then it was the electrified tentacles again: four of them this time, seeking to box her in. Leona stopped herself in mid-slide, by reaching behind her to grip the beam in her gloved hand. She paused for a split second, letting them get closer, then she suddenly sprang up into a forward somersault kick. The sole of her boot connected with the tip of the tentacle that was coming straight at her, the heavy rubber absorbing the electrical charge. The tip of the tentacle crumpled like tissue paper, and it dropped lifelessly to the gym floor.

_Three to go,_ she thought as she landed back on the balance beam, watching the other tentacles from the corners of her icy blue eyes. The probes all lunged at the same time, two going low and one going high, but Leona had already started to cartwheel back the way she had come, so they only hit air. The crossbar she had originally ducked was now swinging back towards her, and Leona jumped up and landed on it, balancing herself like a surfer as she rode it back towards the robotic tentacles.

One of the tentacles was too slow to avoid it. The heavy wooden beam slammed into it, taking it out. As Leona passed by them, she expertly kicked out with one leg, snapping another tentacle cleanly in half.

_And then there was one._ Leona jumped off the crossbar and landed back on the balance beam. The last tentacle waved precariously a few yards ahead of her, not daring to move forward just yet. Leona knew from experience that their CPU in each of them had the ability to learn from the mistakes of the others. After seeing what Leona had done to the first three, this tentacle was therefore a bit more cautious.

Leona reached up to her left ear, pulled off the earring that was held in place against her lobe by a magnetic stud. A small blue gem was set into the earring's center, and Leona held her thumb just over it as she started to run forward again. After a few paces, she pressed down on the gem and started to silently count backwards from three.

The tentacle lunged at her as she reached “one,” and Leona did a forward flip to avoid it. In the middle of her flip, she tossed the earring downwards at the body of the tentacle, saw it take hold (courtesy of the magnet). After landing back on the beam, Leona continued forward without looking back. She heard the small explosion a split second later as the earring detonated, blowing the last tentacle in half.

From there, the rest was cake. She had learned after her third attempt on the course which sections of the beam were holograms, and expertly jumped them, while also avoiding the other mats that tried to detach themselves from the wall and knock her to the ground. She could have used her fists on the last drone, but she was trying for a speed record today, so instead she used her other earring to blow it up. In no time flat, she had reached the end of the course, jumped off the beam, and started making her way back towards Clark.

The blond man gave a low whistle as he looked at the stopwatch. “I think you may have just broken the commander's old record, Leona,” he told her.

“We'll see,” a gruff voice spoke from the entrance to the training room. Both Leona and Clark turned to the door and went rigid, standing at perfect attention as Heidern entered. “At ease,” he said with a casual wave of his hand, and then made his way over to them. Once there, his eye glanced over at the face of the watch in Clark's hand. “Two seconds off,” he told Leona. “But still, a very impressive run.”

Leona saluted. “Sir, thank you, sir!”

Heidern returned the salute, and then asked her: “I'm sure by now you've heard about the upcoming tournament?” It was not a question. He already knew without looking at any surveillance that his adopted daughter had snuck into his office and read the invitation.

Leona knew it was not a question, but she simply gave a short nod. Heidern then asked her: “Are you ready to serve your team?”

Though her expression was neutral, as always, inside Leona allowed just the smallest shimmer of hope to swell up in her heart. “Whatever you need from me, commander.”

“Excellent,” Heidern said. He pulled a manila folder out from inside his jacket, and handed it to her. Leona accepted it, opened the top flap, and then examined its contents: aerial photographs of what appeared to be an industrial facility, fake passport, plane ticket to Singapore...

_Singapore?_ Leona paused in her review of the file. _I thought the tournament was in America._

“Rugal Bernstein's Asian operations have been a little quiet over the last six months,” Heidern explained. “Too quiet. I suspect that might be a cover. You're to head there, see if any Black Crystals have recently been moved to that facility, and if so, neutralize the threat.”

Leona's expression was still neutral, but Clark had seen that cold light in her eyes before. He was standing behind the commander, so Heidern did not notice when Clark took a step backwards. “Permission to speak freely, sir?” Leona asked.

Heidern gave her a nod.

“This sounds like a wild goose chase. Every piece of intel I've looked at regarding the convoy heist says that whatever Rugal is going to be using the Crystals for, it will involve the KoF tournament. And even if he _were_ moving any Crystals to Asia, I don't think his Singapore base would be the place he'd move them to. Those factories are just part a shell company for the legitimate face of his business.”

“Leona, you have your orders,” Heidern told her firmly. Behind him, Clark was silent. Though they were on duty, he looked upon this as a family squabble, otherwise he would have taken Leona's side.

“And I'll follow them, commander,” Leona said. “But since I have permission to speak freely, I'm telling you that I feel this assignment is a waste of my abilities. Everyone else here seems to think I'm ready for the tournament. Why don't you?”

Heidern raised this hand. “We'll discuss this another time,” he said, but with a weariness to his voice that Leona was not used to hearing there. Once again, Heidern found himself brushing his fingertips over the patch on his eye. He'd read about the phenomenon called “phantom limb pain,” how soldiers who'd lost an arm or a leg in combat could sometimes still feel sensation where there should be none, as if they'd never lost the limb. He believed those reports, since he experienced something similar with his right eye.

Though the eye was gone, Heidern swore that he sometimes still saw images through the empty socket, the last images it had ever seen before Rugal removed it: his men slaughtered all around him, along with his wife and family, Rugal standing over him, drenched in their blood, his mouth twisted up into a grinning, demonic mask bathed in firelight as his hand extended, claw-like, towards Heidern's face...

Leona noticed the lapse in his composure, and softly cleared her throat. “Everything okay, d...commander?” Inwardly, she cursed herself for almost having that slip of the tongue. She'd learned at a young age only to call him “dad” in private, and even then only when they were both off-duty.

Just like that, the lapse was gone and the stony visage of her commander was restored. “Everything is fine,” he said crisply. “Any questions about the assignment?”

_Plenty of questions, old man,_ Leona thought to herself. _And none of them about the assignment. But I know from experience you won't answer them._ She shook her head. “No, sir. None.”

“Very well, then. You have your orders. Be ready to ship out at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow!”

Leona stood up straighter and saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!”

Heidern returned the salute, then turned and walked out of the training room.

Both Leona and Clark were silent for a moment after he left. There were things Clark wanted to say, but he had learned the hard way how much Leona hated pity. So he simply said: “Excellent effort today as always, Leona, but since we both have missions to prepare for, I think we should wrap it up. Go hit the showers.”

“Yes, sir!” Leona saluted him, and after Clark returned the salute, she asked: “Permission to speak freely?”

Clark nodded at her. “Granted.”

“Thank you,” Leona told him. “For not saying anything else.”

Clark couldn't help but chuckle a bit. “Anytime, soldier. Good luck tomorrow.”

“You too,” Leona said, then turned and started walking in the direction the women's locker rooms. Heidern was definitely keeping something from her, but in truth, she was keeping things from him, as well.

For the first time since she was a little girl, Leona had been having nightmares again. She started in a featureless room, and kept walking until she came to a mirror. She saw her reflection in the mirror, her long hair undone from its ponytail, its color a bright, fiery red instead of blue. This same red also filled the irises of her eyes. Then there was a bright flash, a clap of thunder, and suddenly she was standing in what appeared to be a village. Flashes of lightning ripped through the crimson sky over her head. By the light of those flashes, she could seethe bodies of dead or dying people surrounding her on all sides, as far as she could see, cut down like stalks of reaped grain. Their blood painted the ground the same color as the sky. “This is who you truly are, girl,” she then heard a voice whisper. “All you have to do is _KILL_.”

Then she would awaken. She had resolved to tell Heidern about this, but after the conversation she'd just had with him, she decided against it. The dreams weren't affecting her training in any way, she saw no reason to think they'd affect her performance on the field. This assignment was pointless busy work, anyway.

_You won't be open with me, dad,_ she thought to herself as she entered the locker room, grabbed a towel and slung it over her shoulder, _so I see no reason to tell you about this. I'll do my duty, like a good soldier, but somehow, I_ am _going to find out the truth..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ADDITIONAL NOTE: Special thanks to Hellsink Bathhall. Our PM chat on fanfiction.net is what gave me the idea for this one. Hope it was to your liking!   
> As always, if anyone has a character or team they'd like me to do one of these for, please PM or tell me in a review. Until next time!


	3. Episode 11 1/2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this vignette is a bit goofier than the ones that came before it. It's a silly idea that came to me as I was bored at work one day. It's told from the point of view of a lonely teenager running one of the concession stands during the KoF tournament, which gets visited by several of the fighters. Hope you enjoy! And as always, feedback is welcome.
> 
> All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the web series.

_Episode 11 ½ – The KoF Tournament Venue..._

 

Most of the preliminary rounds had ended, so there were probably a bunch of things he could have been doing to prepare for the second rush. Instead, the youth leaned casually against the glass and steel counter of the concession stand, flipping through a program, reading about the various teams. On the other side of the counter, a similarly-bored looking teenage boy was pushing a broom across the tiled floor, sweeping around the area of a large set of double doors which separated the outer stadium from the arena where the King of Fighters tournament was in progress.

“I just peeked in on the action, Derek,” said the boy with the broom. “Looks like the Chick Team just totally wasted the... um... Ki... Ko... Kukamonga Team?”

The kid behind the counter gave a weary sigh. “It's the Queens Team and the Kyokugenryu Team, Steve,” he said. “Geez, if you don't even care about the tournament, don't even bother trying to say the team names.”

“I probably care just as much as you do,” Steve said with a shrug of disinterest. “About certain aspects of the tournament, anyway. Oh, just FYI: You've been reading that same page forever.”

Derek glanced down at the program in his hands, which was open on the bios for the Queens Team. The center of the page contained some very high resolution photographs of King, Yuri Sakazaki, and Mai Shiranui. Derek blushed as he quickly turned the page and pretended to start reading about the Ikari Team.

He then heard the sound of someone clearing their throat on the other side of the counter, so he quickly dropped the program and did his best to look professional. He did a double take, however, when he saw that the two customers were the same people that he'd just pretended to read about.

“You're sure you wanna eat some of this stuff, Ralf?” The blond-haired man asked his comrade as he surveyed the concessions.

“We'll need to keep up our strength, Clark,” Ralf answered. “Especially if the shit hits the fan, like the commander keeps saying it will.”

“You're talking about the semifinals, of course?” Clark said, at the same time raising his eyebrows in the direction of the civilian who stood there waiting for their order.

“Um... of course I am,” Ralf said with a nervous laugh, then turned his attention to the clerk. “One hot dog with the works and a diet Coke, please,” he said. Then he asked his friend: “Sure you don't want anything?”

Clark shrugged his broad shoulders. “Ah, what the hell? Get me a bag of honey-roasted nuts.”

Derek was still a little intimidated by his customers, so he made numerous fumbles while getting the order together. He dropped the hot dog when he picked it up off the roller with tongs and tried to put it in a bun, so he had to start over with another dog. Then he accidentally filled the cup with Sprite instead of diet cola, dumping it out when he'd gotten it half-full and spilling a little on his shoes. Then, it took him three tries to enter the correct prices into the register.

“Come on, kid,” said Ralf, who had already taken a bite of his dog. “We gotta get back in time to watch the Sports Team fight.”

“Got it,” Derek said, and finally managed to get the order right. “Okay, that will be seven-fifty.”

Ralf's demeanor changed suddenly as he passed Derek a ten, and gave him an icy stare. “You can keep the change, kid, on one condition: anyone asks, you never saw us here. Got it?”

Derek stood there for a moment, a single drop of sweat rolling down his cheek. Then he managed to move his arms again, and reached for the money. “Um, got it,” he said.

As the two soldiers turned and started walking back towards the arena, Derek wondered why they'd be so eager to watch the Sports Team. After reading about them in the program, he was surprised they were even competing at all, especially against some of the world's most skilled martial artists. _Publicity stunt, I guess_ , he thought to himself as he put the ten in the cash drawer, pocketed Ralf's change, and then slammed the drawer shut.

He was about to pick his program up and resume reading when he saw three more people approaching his stand. One of them was a well-built, dark-haired Japanese man who looked to be in his forties, dressed in a white gi, flanked on either side by two younger men. One was blond, also Japanese, and wearing an orange gi, while the other was dark-haired, appeared to be European, and was dressed in white slacks and a purple, button-down shirt. The two younger men both followed the older man cautiously, taking light steps as if the floor were thin ice. Derek recognized them as the Kyokugenryu team, which Steve told him had just been beaten by Mai, Yuri and King.

Halfway to the concession stand, the elder man spun suddenly at the two walking in his shadow. “How could you bring such shame to us in there?” He asked with a sad shake of his head. “First, you allow Yuri-chan to skip the country. Then she comes back, and you didn't even _try_ to stop her from signing up for KoF with those friends of hers: that ninja floozy, and that blond girl who dresses like a man!”

“Technically, we _did_ try, pop,” said Ryo Sakazaki. “At least, _I_ tried, anyway.”

Takuma Sakazaki raised a beefy hand. “Silence!” He snapped. “And now: you just let them make a complete mockery of our fighting school! What was that sorry display I just witnessed? Where was your coordination? And _where_ did Yuri-chan learn to fight like that? I told you she was to be taught defensive moves only!”

“We were doing that, just as you instructed,” said Ryo. “But, we can't watch her twenty-four seven! Who knows what she studies in her free time?”

“And, in our defense, Takuma-sensei,” said Robert Garcia. “Yuri-san _does_ take after you quite a bit, especially with that will of hers...” He slowly trailed off as he realized the mistake of what he had just said.

Takuma's dark brown eyes fixed firmly on him, his jaw clenching, the vein on the side of his forehead becoming more prominent. Even from over at the booth, Derek thought he heard the man's teeth grinding together.

“Garcia-san,” he growled. “I've always admired your spirit and your willingness to give up your pampered lifestyle for one of honor and discipline. If you hadn't advanced in your studies the way that you have ever since I took you in...”

“Hey, look!” Ryo interrupted him. “There's a snack stand! Why don't we just get something to eat before we continue this discussion? It will calm our nerves. I mean, remember what the doc said about your blood pressure, chichi-ue.”

Takuma blew a long breath out through his clenched teeth, and then relaxed slightly, his broad shoulders slumping in defeat. “Forget it,” he said. “I don't have an appetite right now. My stomach is acting up. I think our loss to a team of women is giving me an ulcer. I'm going back to the dojo to have a stiff drink, and then sleep this off. Tomorrow, we had better redeem ourselves.” He turned on his heel and stalked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Ryo and Robert allowed themselves to relax, as well, and then made their way over to the counter.

“What can I get you?” Derek asked as they approached, trying to act like he hadn't overheard everything that had just went on.

“Tell, me, kid,” asked Ryo. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Uh uh,” Derek shook his head.

“Then tell your folks not to make any,” Ryo told him. He was silent for a moment as he looked over the menu, and then said: “Give me a chili cheese burger and two spring rolls.”

“The same,” said Robert. “And a root beer.”

As Derek got the food together, he overheard the two of them speaking low to each other, like they were conspiring.

“So, where to now?” Robert asked.

“Now,” said Ryo. “I feel like taking a walk outside. The last thing I want to do is run into my sister, or one of her teammates.”

“You don't want to see the Sports Team?”

“Why bother?” Ryo retorted. “It's gonna be a short fight, anyway. I mean, what could they possibly do against Kyo's team?”

Robert nodded. “Yeah, you're probably right. And I could use some air.” A few moments later, Derek had finished preparing their food, so Robert paid him, and then the two combatants started towards the exit.

There was another lull after they left, so Derek started to reach for his program again, when he saw three very attractive women approaching his stand. Having read through the program a few times out of boredom by now, he recognized them instantly as the Queens Team.

The one in the middle, a well-endowed Japanese woman with long, reddish-brown hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing a very revealing red and white fighting outfit, leaned over and placed her elbows on the counter. “It's been a good day,” Mai Shiranui said to her teammates. “First, we soundly defeated Yuri's dad's team, then Terry more or less took down the Psycho Soldiers on his own. Pity I didn't get to see Andy fight, though. Oh, well, we're one step closer to kicking his team's ass. Let's celebrate with a snack!”

She leaned over the counter a little more, and Derek tried his best to look the kunoichi in the eyes, but he was only sixteen, and Mai's voluptuous breasts threatened to spill out of the red fabric that just barely kept them covered. So it was a losing battle.

He stood there with his eyes bulging as Mai surveyed the stand's offerings. It was a mix of both east and west: foods like jumbo beef hot dogs, burgers, nachos, and pretzels shared space with fried pork dumplings, steamed beef buns, teriyaki skewers, spare ribs, and crispy deep-fried noodles. After a few minutes, the busty ninja gave a small _**t** sk_of disapproval and straightened up a bit. “Nothing here but fried bread, salt and fatty meat. I don't see how Americans can eat so much of this crap.” Then she asked Derek: “Don't you have anything light?”

“Um, light?” Derek said to Mai's expansive chest.

Mai smirked and pointed to her face. “My eyes are up here, kid.”

Somehow, Derek managed to move his gaze up, going red in the face. “Of course they are,” he said. Behind Mai, her two teammates were rolling their eyes. “Um, something... light, you said? Like what?”

Mai sighed, reached down to the garter wrapped around her right thigh, and pulled out a folding fan. She put one hand on her hip and turned slightly, giving the youth a better look at her profile, then she opened the fan and started to flap it daintily in front of her face. “Look, junior, you think what you're staring at right now just happens spontaneously? It takes a lot of work to maintain this gorgeous figure. Do you have any vegetables? Any sashimi? Any steamed rice cakes?”

Derek's eyes had moved again from Mai's face to her bombshell body. After a few minutes passed with no answer, Mai snapped her fan shut and rapped it hard on the counter, making Derek jump a few feet in the air. “Pay attention!” She growled at him.

King shook her head and placed a restraining hand on Mai's shoulder. “Relax, Mai,” she told her friend. “He's just a kid. His life's complicated enough already. He doesn't need you coming along and messing with his already raging hormones.”

Derek straightened himself up, then. He had taken some offense to the “just a kid” remark, which helped him regain a little focus. “Um, I know that Brett's stand sells a lot of healthy junk,” he told Mai, trying to sound as helpful as possible. “He's on the other side of the stadium.”

Mai growled in frustration and slipped her fan back into her garter. “So I'd need to walk all the way over there?” She turned and started to make her way towards the double doors leading back into the arena, running her mouth the whole time. “Never mind, I'll just have Andy take me to that Japanese restaurant after all the preliminaries are done with. This time, he'd better not stand me up, or I'll have his head.”

“So, you want anything, King-san?” Yuri asked the blond woman after Mai's voice started to fade into the distance.

The kick-boxer shook her head. “I'm not hungry.”

Yuri pulled some cash out of the pocket of her gi and said to Derek: “One bag of popcorn, please.”

Derek did not hear her, as he continued to watch Mai walk away, the red and white tails on the back of her outfit swaying from side to side, providing brief glimpses of her toned thighs, her curvaceous buttocks...

“Um, hello?” Yuri said to the slack-jawed teenager, louder this time. She then waved a hand in front of his face. Nothing. “Okay, then,” said the petite brunette. “Here's my money.” She waved a dollar in his line of sight, and then placed it on the counter. “I'm just going to put that there, and then I'm gonna take a popcorn. Okay?” When Derek did not reply, Yuri simply nodded, pretending he had heard her. “Okay.”

She jumped over the counter, helped herself to a bag of popcorn, and then jumped back to the other side. She and King then left to catch up with Mai.

When they were gone, Derek was finally able to blink again. Steve stood nearby, leaning on his push-broom. “Man,” said Steve, “You'd have to be the biggest dumbass in the universe to stand up a babe like her. That, or gay.”

“Yup,” Derek said, hunching down slightly behind the counter in an attempt to hide the tent he was now pitching in his slacks. “Hey, Steve,” he then asked the other teen. “Can you cover me for a few minutes? I have to, um... use the bathroom.”

“Sure, whatever,” Steve said nonchalantly as he moved behind the counter. Derek grabbed up his program and took off like a shot towards the Men's Room...

* * *

He looked much more relaxed when he came back a few minutes later. “Where's your program?” Steve asked him, noticing that his friend was no longer carrying it.

“Oh, um... I dropped it in the toilet by mistake,” Derek said quickly as he went back behind the counter. “Guess I'll have to find another one after my shift is over.”

“Right,” Steve said with a nod, then resumed his sweeping. “I just hope you remembered to wash your hands.”

The next several customers were, to Derek's relief, normal people. Then he used a lull to refill the popcorn machine, and as his back was turned to the register, he heard a voice ask: “Excuse me, I'd like the strongest drink that you have.”

Derek turned back around, and saw no one. Then he realized he was looking too high. The person who had spoken was an old man with white hair that covered most of his face, slightly unsteady on his feet, who was just barely tall enough to peek over the counter.

“The strongest one we have?” He repeated to the old man, who gave a brief nod. Derek turned around, opened the cooler that was under the popcorn machine, pulled out a twenty-ounce bottle of Jolt cola, then stood and offered it to the man.

Chin Gentsai accepted the bottle, twisted off the top, then made a face after taking a sip. “Hm... is there any alcohol in this?”

“Um, no, sir,” said Derek. “There's no alcohol at this stand. And I'm under eighteen, so I can't sell it, anyway.”

“That's right,” Chin said. “I forgot we were in America. Ah, well, I'm sure I can find something to mix with this.”

A second later, he was joined by two others: a dark-haired youth in a sleeveless red gi, and a woman with long purple hair who looked like she was dressed in some type of school uniform. She looked familiar, somehow.

“Oh, no you don't, Chin-sensei,” said the dark-haired boy as he snatched the bottle away. “You remember what happened the last time you drank caffeine.” He took a swig of the soda, then recapped it and stuck it in his pocket.

“That was a freak accident, Kensou-san,” Chin grumbled at his student. “This time, if I mix it with some booze, I'm sure it will balance out.” He reached for Sie Kensou's pocket, his eyes looking hopeful under the bushy white bangs that blocked them from view.

Sie remained adamant, however, and swatted his master's hand away. Then, he turned to the girl standing just behind him. “You want anything, Athena-chan?” He asked her.

_ATHENA?_ Derek did a double take, then realized that it was indeed Athena Asamiya who was gracing his concession stand (well, not his stand, just the one he was assigned to that night). He couldn't name any of her songs, but he did have a rather nice poster of her on the wall of his room. It had been expensive, since he'd needed to order it from Japan, but it had been worth the extra price, as it had helped him through a few restless nights.

Athena saw the look of recognition in the clerk's eyes and gave a resigned sigh. “No, thanks, Kensou-san,” she said wearily. “I'm not hungry.”

Sie nodded and turned his attention back to the clerk. He frowned when he noticed the way that Derek was looking at Athena, and quickly clapped his hands together a mere centimeter from the other boy's face.

Derek jumped again, even higher than he had when Mai had struck the counter with her fan. “Hey!” Sie Kensou snapped at him. “Pay attention to your work, not the girl. We'll take the soda, and however many meat buns this will buy.” He reached into the pocket of his gi, and pulled out a twenty.

Derek's face went red, and he turned, grabbed the tongs, and started to load the buns into a box. If Kensou were not in his line of sight, he would have licked the food as he was boxing it. Then, he turned back around and handed the box to Sie. The dark-haired boy snatched them away almost contemptuously and then thrust out the hand containing the money.

Derek accepted it, and then pretended to fiddle with the buttons on the register. After a few minutes, he gave a shrug and said: “Sorry, but the register doesn't seem to be working. Any chance you would be able to get your girlfriend to... um... sign an IOU? I'm sure you're good for it.”

Athena straightened up suddenly, her cheeks flushing. “Um, I'm actually not his girlfriend!”

Kensou's brown eyes took on a wounded look for a split second, then they narrowed into deadly slits as he fixed Derek with an icy glare. Chin, who until now had been standing there mourning the loss of his cola, suddenly moved faster than Derek ever thought such an old man could, striking the side of the register with a swift chop. With a cheerful _ding_ , the drawer suddenly popped open.

“Oh, look, I fixed it,” Chin said in a jovial tone. “Now, please give us our change so we can get back to watching the rest of the fights!”

Derek put the twenty in the drawer, counted out the change, and offered it to Sie. The Psycho Soldier accepted it, but the speed at which he snatched it suggested that he was trying to rip the clerk's hand off. Even after Chin and Athena had started to walk away, Sie Kensou stood there for another moment, glaring at Derek, his teeth grinding together. As he stood there, Sie took one of the buns out of the box and took a rather intimidating bite, tearing it slowly like a vulture might pick at a carcass.

Then Chin shouted: “Let's go, Kensou-san! I need to find a booth that sells booze before the Sports Team's match starts!”

“Hmph!” Sie Kensou snorted contemptuously at the clerk, then turned and started off after his teammates. Derek watched them leave, paying close attention to Athena Asamiya. Her skirt was short, but she wore a pair of purple tights that covered her legs completely. Somehow, this made her look even hotter, as the absence of bare skin made him fantasize about just what she wasn't showing. He remembered how the leggings she wore on his poster showed off just the right amount of thigh. He then tried to picture her with bare legs, and from there he started to wonder if she was wearing panties under that skirt...

_God damn it!_ Derek cast a quick look around, spotted Steve still pushing his broom not far away. He called over to him: “Hey, Steve! Can you spot me again? I, um... gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Again?” Steve snarled as he threw down his broom and started towards the booth.

“Sorry, dude,” said Derek. “I... um... I got the runs!” Then he jumped over the counter and started to race back to the restrooms before his friend could say anything else...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ADDITIONAL NOTE: Yeah, this is my silliest one so far, but it made me laugh, and honestly, I really only write fanfic for myself. It's not my fault if others are crazy enough to read it.   
> Also, I got to do something with Takuma, which I'm happy about. One of my criticisms with the series is that they left him out completely, even though he's clearly a member of Ryo and Robert's team.  
> Hope you enjoyed it. Please keep the reviews coming!

**Author's Note:**

> ADDITIONAL NOTE: Right now, this is the only idea I have, so I'm taking requests. If there's any particular character or team you'd like me to write a vignette for, please tell me in a review or PM. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, feedback is welcome.


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